Language Module
 Specialised module in the brain?
 What other evidence could support Chomsky’s hypothesis?
 Neuroimaging can’t pinpoint a single area
 Many different areas involved in different aspects of
language
 Some areas seem to serve a number of different functions
 Modular processing could still exist within a functional
module
 Functionally specialised neural circuits
 A combination of components
some special to language, others more general
Language Module
 Evidence…
 People with damaged “language module”, but other cognitive abilities ok
 Damage in Broca’s area in the left hemisphere
– can be unable to produce or perceive language with complicated grammar
 People with limited cognitive abilities, but “language module” ok
 Williams Syndrome
– severe mental deficits, but grammatical language
 Many recent results/theories contradict this
 Damage in Wernicke's area – specialised language skill areas
 Poor comprehension
 Speech has a natural-sounding rhythm and normal syntax
 …but no recognisable meaning (fluent or jargon aphasia)
 Specific language impairment – 6% of population
 Not related to or caused by other developmental disorders
 Difficulty with inflected forms of words, "-ed"
 Alternative: language processed in general cognitive system
 No clear consensus yet… grammar localised… words not
Can Chimpanzees Learn Sign Language?
 Washoe was trained for sign “More”
 Learned sign for toothbrush by imitation
 Made up some novel combinations of words:
 refrigerator = OPEN FOOD DRINK
 Some criticisms of results
 Tried to replicate results with Nim Chimpsky, failed
 Learnt some signs, but no grammar
 Learnt nothing that could not be taught to a pigeon
 Much controversy about these studies
 Some claim it was self deception
 Example (Pinker): Researchers said chimp was making a sign
 Native human signer said he was just scratching himself
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
 Language's nature influences the habitual thought of its
speakers.
 Hopi language
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Western languages : the present and future are thought of as "places“
Time is a path linking them
"three days" equivalent to "three apples", or "three kilometres“
Native American languages oriented towards process
 Inuit people
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Numerous words for snow
Modifies the world view of the Eskimo
Creates a different mode of existence for them
Geoffrey Pullum: "The great Eskimo vocabulary hoax“
 Language of the Pirahã tribe of Brazil
 Contains three counting words: one, two and many.
 Pirahã people have difficulty recounting numbers > 3
 Controversy: maybe Pirahã have no need to practice doing so
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
 Strong form of hypothesis: language determines thought
 Popular in fiction: Orwell’s 1984 newspeak, e.g. no freedom
 Generally not accepted nowadays
 But some weaker elements may be present
 Different languages categorise the world in different ways
 In English:
 The dog ran through the forest
 The dog ran through the table(!)
 In English the table is more thought of as its top
 Other languages think of it more as its legs
Classifiers and Categories
 George Lakoff book: Women, Fire and Dangerous Things
 Dyirbal language
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I - most animate objects, men
II - women, water, fire, violence, and exceptional animals
III - edible fruit and vegetables
IV - miscellaneous (everything else)
Metaphors
 Argument is war
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Your claims are indefensible
He attacked every weak point in my argument
His criticisms were right on target
I demolished his argument
I’ve never won an argument with him
You disagree? Okay, shoot.
If you use that strategy he’ll wipe you out.
He shot down all of my arguments.
Metaphors
 Time is a resource
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You’re wasting my time
This gadget will save you hours
I don’t have the time to give you
How do you spend your time these days?
That flat tire cost me an hour
I’ve invested a lot of time in her
I don’t have enough time to spare for that
You’re running out of time
Do you have much time left?
He’s living on borrowed time
Thank you for your time
I lost a lot of time when I got sick
Metaphors
 The conduit metaphor
 Ideas are objects
 Language expressions are containers
 Communication is sending
 Examples
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It’s hard to get that idea across to him
I gave you that idea
Your reasons came through to us
It’s difficult to put my ideas into words
His words carry little meaning
Your words are hollow
The idea is buried in terribly dense paragraphs
Metaphors
Up is positive, down is negative
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He is at the peak of health
He came down with flu
His health is declining
I am on top of the situation
He is at the height of his power
His power rose
He fell from power
The stock is rising
We are at an all-time low
Metaphors
 Personification
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Life has cheated me
His religion tells him he cannot drink wine
The Michelson-Morley experiment gave birth to a new physical theory
Cancer finally caught up with him
Inflation has attacked the foundations of our economy
Inflation is eating up our profits
Inflation has robbed me of my savings
Inflation has outwitted the best economic minds in the country
 …inflation is an adversary
 Declare war on inflation
 Call for sacrifices
 Install a new chain of command
Metaphors
 Lakoff’s Thesis:
cognition is depends on the linguistic metaphor
 We are completely immersed in metaphors
 There seems to be no way to say some things without metaphors